120 DODDER ON CLOVER 



like a small thorn, and is thus enabled to 

 pierce the clover stem. The parasitic life of 

 the clover dodder commences with the inser- 

 tion of the first sucker into the host plant. 

 When the pith is reached by the suckers 

 pushing themselves in between the cells of 

 the stem of the host, the cellular tissue of 

 the dodder comes into close contact with the 

 living cells of the clover, with the result that 

 the vital juices elaborated by the clover pass 

 through the cell walls of the clover into the 

 cells of the dodder ; thus the sap of the clover 

 feeds the parasite by transfusion. 



The dodder grows with such extraordinary 

 rapidity when it has once fixed on clover, and 

 it produces so many branches and branchlets, 

 with such a vast number of suckers, that 

 the growth of the parasite usually far exceeds 

 that of the host. The consequence is the 

 dodder completely drains out the elaborated 

 juices of the clover, and kills it by exhaus- 

 tion. The destruction of the clover is also 

 hastened by the great weight of the accu- 

 mulated masses of entangled dodder. Every 



